Anime Vegas – Small Con with a Big Heart

The dealer hall can be perused in-depth in a span of a half-hour, all can be viewed of Artist’s Alley in a 10 minute walk-through, and at any given moment there are no more than 3 events to attend. If you are “so over it” then that means, you’ve never been.

At a glance, Anime Vegas seems to offer no more than the chance to eat some over-priced pocky while waiting for your turn to play Marvel vs. Capcom in the gaming room. Give the con a chance, step away from the games (don’t worry, you can go back at any time) and step into one of the many other activities that at most cons would take a 2 hour wait in line with a possible chance of being allowed in on time.

In it's entirety, the dealer hall can be traversed in a matter of minutes.

While the activities are few, they are engaging and entertaining. With a large con, one can easily become overwhelmed. “Oh no, I want to do this but it’s on the other side of the center and it’ll take an hour to work my way through a crowd.” Here, Anime Vegas offers a small venue which is easy to navigate and though the occasion bottlenecks occur it’s fairly open space to move around and make it on time to anyevent, even if you change your mind at the last second.

The perks far outweigh the annoyances.

Dealers, artist’s, “for hire” maids and butlers, as well even staffers and volunteers seemed relaxed, open, and patient.

While there were not many options, for the scatter-brained this was a huge perk. Fewer decisions, less places one has to travel to, as well shorter waiting times makes attending panels and experiencing concerts all the more fun. This also offered the opportunity to attend to new experiences simply because there was nothing that “jumped out” on the schedule.

The biggest perk of all to the hard-core J-fan would be the short wait for signatures and a longer time able to spent with each voice-actor, artist, musician, and every other honored guest. The honored guests have also seemed to appreciate the atmosphere at Anime Vegas, with each being able to attend more directly to their fans.

A small touch of detail sweetens the treats at AV.

I’m definitely glad I made the trek out here, it’s been an entirely different experience than the hectic, over-crowded con I’ve grown accustomed to.